


Graceless

by Jinmukang



Series: Grace Fics [2]
Category: Linked Universe - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Blood, Bonding, Gen, Linked Universe, Mipha's Grace, character death but not really, crying lots, everyone is sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-31
Updated: 2019-03-31
Packaged: 2019-12-30 03:13:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18307037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jinmukang/pseuds/Jinmukang
Summary: Twilight has some things to think about and Wild doesn't understand what he's done wrong.





	Graceless

**Author's Note:**

> Continuation of my last fic Grace.

Twilight is mad at him. Well, they’re all mad at him, but Twilight is the only one making an effort to give him the silent treatment, and Wild can’t figure out why.

Twilight won’t even look at him.

It hurts, and he doesn’t understand. After Mipha brought him back, he killed the Lynel, he  _saved_  them. Before he passed out, he remembers Twilight hugging him so close, weeping with happiness; but now, that he’s awake again, two whole days have passed and not a single member of the group has given him any kind of look besides sadness and confusion.

Why are they so angry?

He thinks about it, and thinks about it some more as he’s making lunch. The sun is hot against the back of his neck as he chops up bits of meat before dumbing the pieces in a bowl of boiling water over the fire. He hears conversation behind his back and he wants to join them but he knows that if he does, they would get awkward and it wouldn’t be enjoyable at all.

He could hear Twilight’s voice, which pulls at his heart because Twilight’s voice is never directed at him anymore.

What could have made them so angry at him, he wonders. Maybe they’re mad that he got hurt when he’s supposed to be the most experienced against his monsters. If only he was stronger, the Lynel would have been easily defeated and it wouldn’t have gone after his friends. Maybe that’s what they’re mad about, he’s not good enough even in his own world.

He shakes his head. It can’t be that. They’re not like that. But why are they so mad?

He thinks and thinks as he finishes making a nice, warm soup. They’re about to head up to higher elevation, so something warm will do them all good. Hopefully this will cheer them up.

He clears his throat and turns away from the fire. “Lunch is ready,” he announces.

Wind looks up and smiles at him, though there’s something in his eyes that looks sad. “Thank you,” he says before he stands up.

Time comes and helps Wild hand out bowls of soup and Wild can already feel the tension and awkwardness in the air as he sits down to eat with them. Twilight is silent, poking at his soup with his spoon and glaring at it like it has murdered his horse.

“So, um,” Wild starts, because the silence that is only filled with clinking spoons against bowls will make him insane. Everyone but Twilight looks at him, and he pretends that it doesn’t feel like a knife to the chest. “The Rito village isn’t that far from here, it’s-”

“How many times have you done that, Wild?” Twilight suddenly speaks up. Wild chokes on his words and looks over at his mentor—his  _best friend_ —with a start. “How many times have you died like that?”

Wild opens and closes his mouth like a gaping fish. Is this what Twilight is so angry about? Him dying? He hasn’t even considered… all of them have died at some point right? They have fairies to heal them after they die, why did Wild dying and using Mipha’s Grace make any difference?

“Twilight,” Time reprimands, placing a hand on Twilight’s shoulder, but Twilight snarls and stands up. His bowl of soup falls to the ground and splatters against the dirt. It goes forgotten as Twilight marches up at Wild and lifts him up by the collar of his tunic. Wild is forced to drop his own bowl.

“How many times, Wild?!” He snarls.

Wild can feel his heart beating rapidly in his chest. He’s never seen Twilight worked up like this. It hurts that it’s at him.

“I’ve died a lot of times-” he starts but Twilight growls and shoves Wild away from him.

Wild watches wearily as Twilight begins to pace, muttering swears under his breath and pulling at his hair. Everyone is silent, even Legend, watching with wide eyes. Wind looked pale.

Finally, Twilight spins around and glares at Wild. “It’s not… That. How many times have you  _let_  yourself die. How many times have you-”

Cold runs down Wild’s spine as he remembers the moments before his death. He was in so much pain, broken ribs, bleeding wounds, something impaling from his back through his chest. Yet none of that pain came close to comparison to watching the Lynel run after Twilight before he could recover from the last attack and raise it’s weapon to deal a deadly blow. Wild didn’t have to tell his body to move, it already was.

As he jumped in front of the spear protecting himself was the furthest thing from his mind, Daruk’s Protection was the last thing he was thinking about at that moment. He took the blow head on, and then he was on the ground in so much unbearable pain with worried voices above him. He focused on Twilight, it was the only face that he could see through the haze of pain and shock. Roars of the Lynel vibrated in his skull, it took him a few moments for him to realize they were trying to shove a health potion down his throat.

He almost took it, but something told him that it wouldn’t be enough. The Lynel was still out there and it would kill them all without his help, but there was one way to become fully healed. He just had to… had to get them away from him.

He’d never forget the way Twilight pounded on the glowing shield cutting them away from him. His hands weakly grabbed at the object protruding out from his chest cavity, and before he could hesitate, he pushed it out with sickening squelches. His eyes fluttered on their own as well as the barrier. Twilight… was screaming.

That wasn’t the first time he’s let himself die to avoid the old fashioned way of healing. Mipha’s Grace is a tool, something very useful that allowed himself to skip the painful healing process and jump right back into the game. Sure, the first time he let himself die felt… wrong, but he got used to it.

So the answer to Twilight’s sudden and accusing question is:  more times than what he can remember, and he doesn’t have a lot of memory to go off from.

However, judging by the look on Twilight’s face, by the way Hyrule looks like he’s going to throw up or how Time has his hands clasped together so tight his knuckles are white, he somehow knows that any answer other than “just the one time” would be the wrong answer.

So he chose to remain silent.

That seems to be the worst thing he can do because Twilight scoffs and walks away, kicking dirt and grumbling to himself as he walks into the forest.

Wild is about to follow after him, to try and explain, but Time stands up and holds up a hand. “Let me handle it,” he says before he too disappears into the forest.

Awkward silence falls over the remaining members of the group. Wild swallows, their eyes are on him and it’s  _too much._  He doesn’t understand why they are so angry. He doesn’t see what’s so wrong about using the tools available to you. Something flares in his chest and he wants to scream. They’re still looking at him. Judging.

 _He did something wrong_. And he doesn’t know what. He made a mistake and they… they hate him for it? They can’t. They-

It’s hard to breathe. He has to get away. He desperately takes in a gasp of air, turns the other way, and  _sprints_.

He thinks he hears his name being called but he doesn’t care, all he cares about is that he has to get away. He has to leave, they all must hate him. He did something wrong  _what did he do wrong what did he do wrong **whatdidhedowrong**._

His legs collapse beneath him and he chokes on something caught in his throat. His hands claw into the forest floor and his heart pounds in his ears. He thinks he’s crying, it’s hard to breathe so he can’t tell.

He’s the worst. They all must hate him. He’s not a hero. He’s done nothing to deserve that status. He’s always messing up, and now he’s done something that must be unforgivable. Twilight hates him. Oh Hylia, anyone but Twilight.

He lowers his whole body to the ground and sobs.

-o-o-o-o-

A couple days pass, and Wild pretends that he’s not still confused and hurting. They all act like normal. Twilight is still ignoring him, though not as harshly as he’s done before. Time must have said something to him, though Wild isn’t complaining, at least Twilight is actually talking to him.

It’s all in short sentences though, but Twilight is at least making an effort. It’s more than what Wild deserves.

Sometime during their travels, they have switched between worlds. In a blinking on an eye, Wild no longer recognizes the trees around him. Legend says they are somewhere in his Hyrule and they continue on, trying to find the closest civilization.

“Kakariko Village shouldn’t be far from here,” Legend says, leading the way. “We should be able to resupply there and-” he’s cut off when a giant metal ball connected to a chain rams into his stomach and sends him flying.

“Legend!” Warrior yells as the whole group pulls out their weapons. Out of the trees emerges a giant figure clad in heavy blue armor, a ball and chain held in his hands.

Sky rushes over to Legend who is groaning on the ground as everyone charges towards the new threat. Wild jumps forward and stabs his sword though one of the joints through the armor. Black smoke escapes through the edges around his sword but the attacker doesn’t seem affected by the stab wound at all. It moves its body and violently snaps Wild’s sword in half before it swings its arms, knocking into the side of Wild’s head and launching him several feet away.

Wild groans and his head spins as he rolls on the ground before coming to a stop. He blinks and it takes a moment for him to tell his body to move. He shakes his head and forces his arms beneath him to push himself up. His vision spins but he forces himself to focus on what’s going on in front of him.

The group has thankfully learnt from Wild’s failed attempt to stab the new enemy. They are all standing a small distance away, weapons raised wearily as the enemy glares at them all with glowing eyes.

“Wild? You okay?” Time calls out. Wild blinks again and forces himself to his feet. The blow hurt and will probably give him a rather large goose egg, but he was okay. To let them know that, he pulls his bow off from his back and nocks an arrow.

The monster let’s out an eerie growl as it whips the chain out. The ball jumps in the air and thuds on the ground threateningly, Wild could feel the vibrations through his leather boots.

“Legend?” Warrior calls out wearily as the monster whips the chain again, growling. “How do we kill this thing?”

Legend doesn’t answer, he’s too busy looking like he’s fighting down the urge to vomit as Sky tries to convince him to drink a health potion.

Wild pulls his arrow back and launches at one of the eyes of the monster. All it does is enrage it as it lifts the chain up and begins to swing that ball around at murderous speeds. Wild backs up as do the rest, but the swinging ball is too fast for them all to get out of the way. Wild can only be thankful that Wind already haa his shield out when the ball hits him, but it didn’t stop the wounded scream that escapes his mouth when the bone is his arm snaps audibly.

Wind falls to the ground as the shield, completely dented, flies several feet away. The ball continues to swing and everyone are forced to fall back as Wind, who must be in agony, curls up on himself as the violent swinging weapon flies right above him. The monster takes a step forward and everyone takes nervous steps back, gusts of wind are now whipping at their hair and clothes. Wild has his eyes on Wind, who is completely helpless as the monster takes another step forward.

“Wind!” Four yells, looking like he’s about to dive in after him.

Hyrule looks at Time with wide  _what do we do_  eyes. Time has a locked jaw and his eyes are constantly darting between the swinging weapon and Wind who is just a few steps away from being trampled on.

“Time?” Twilight asks, his voice wobbling with worry.

Then Wild has an idea, and he’s about to execute it, but his mind flashes back towards Twilight yelling at him before walking away angrily. Wild did something wrong, and he doesn’t know what. Is the idea he has now wrong?

Wind is grasping his shattered arm and weakly kicking his legs in an attempt to get away, but the enemy’s steps are too long and Wind is a few seconds away from having his life ended.

Wild forces his hesitation to the back of his head. He can’t let Wind die just so he can keep everyone happy with him. If what he’s about to do is wrong, then so be it.

He charges forward.

“Wild!?” Someone calls over the wind but Wild keeps running. The ball is going so fast that he can hardly track it and he has to time this perfectly.

He jumps forward just as the metal ball is about to hit into him, shattering bones and probably killing him on impact, but before that can happen he activates Daruk’s Protection.

In an explosion of light, the metal ball bangs loudly against his his shield. He swears he hears Daruk grunt from the force, but it all happens in a moment and can’t he be sure. The ball rebounds and smashes into a tree in the opposite direction of Wind. The enemy stumbles and groans angrily as Wild sprints forward and gathers Wind in his arms. Wind whimpers as his arm is jostled but Wild grits his teeth and begins to sprint away. The monster is already recovering and  _there is no time_.

He finds he isn’t fast enough. The sound of a whipping chain shatters through the air and suddenly Wild is violently tugged backwards, choking, as the chain wraps around his neck. He let’s go of Wind, dropping him to the ground roughly and gasping as the chain jerks his neck backwards.

He sees through his already cloudy vision as Warrior grabs Wind and drags him away. Time, Hyrule, and Warrior sprint forward, screaming battle cries, but they sound far away.

He’s jerked further backwards so his back hits against the monsters armor, his legs give out on him as the lack of oxygen begins to shut down his body. Everything is blurring and he can hear nothing but his weakening heartbeat and see nothing but black smoke. He can’t feel his fingers and he’s being held up like a limp puppet connected to a single string.

Then, there’s another tug, and his neck snaps.

-o-o-o-o-

Black. There’s only black. It’s familiar and comforting. It tells him that he’s done well and that it’s over. He can sleep now. It’s okay. He’s done his best.

It’s like that for an infinite yet very short time. He’s blanketed in nothing and he feels himself slowly becoming one with it. It’s done. It’s over. It-

Blinding teal flashes into existence and his whole consciousness erupts in agony. He wants to scream, to cry, to beg. Leave him alone, he’s done now, don’t bring him back again!  _Againagainagain **againagain**_ —-

A warm hand reached towards him and coaxes him forward. He wants to fight it, it’s comforting here, but the hand doesn’t let him. The black turns into gray and white erupts. He screams. He fights. He kicks. But the hand… She ignores him. Before the light completely takes him, he hears her voice.

“It was my pleasure.”

-o-o-o-o-

His eyes open as he sees hers staring at his face. He wants to thank her, but his body is too busy reawakening. She floats away before he could do anything.

He takes in a breath of air. Or he tries to.

The chain is still around his neck.

Panic flares and his hands whip up to his neck, grabbing at the cold weapon that’s strangling him. It doesn’t budge. He kicks his legs and writhes on the ground. The leash is slack, he wonders briefly why that is, but the thought flies away as his hands claw into his skin. He can’t breath, he can’t breath, he can’t- everything is going dark again and oh Hylia he’s so scared. He won’t come back from this. He’s going to die and stay dead.

Tears drip down his face and he opens his mouth, choking and trying his best to take in air. He’s going to die. He’s going to die.  _He doesn’t want to die_.

Then, there’s a face above him, he can’t make it out through his panic, but he can feel a second pair of hands grab his own and bring them away from his neck. They want him to choke, he thinks with terror. They want him to die. He lets out a breathless sob and hardly notices as another pair of hands grab at the chain.

He goes limp, energy spent, accepting his fate, but just as he’s about to jump back into the void, air rushes into his starved lungs.

He gasps and rolls onto his side as the hands all disappear. He’s coughing and gasping and clawing at the ground. His head is spinning and pins and needles attack his fingertips and toes. The air burns his throat but feels  _so good_. There’s a hand rubbing his back now, soothing voices meeting his ears. His eyes focus and his breathing evens out. His neck aches but that goes ignored as he begins to push himself up.

“Wild, careful-” Twilight whispers.

Wild pushes himself up anyway and looks around him. The monster they have been fighting was standing straight in a pose ready to attack. Wild almost jumps up to battle, but there was a chill to the air. He looked closer at the possessed armor and saw ice hanging off it’s limbs; it was blue not because of the color of the armor, but because it was completely frozen. He turns around and sees Legend being supported by Sky, standing. There’s a blue rod in his hand that had white, frozen steam flying off the tip. He wears a determined look as blood drips down his chin. No one looks worried about it, he must have already gotten medical attention.

Wind was sitting on a boulder biting into a strip of cloth as Warrior helps wrap the broken arm. He spins around and sees that everyone’s fine. They are all okay. He feels like he’s going to collapse with relief.

Suddenly, his vision is obscured by a body dragging him into a tight hug. He gasps as the action smarts at his neck, but that went to the back of his mind as he recognizes the person hugging him.

Twilight.

He feels his eyes burn as more tears begin to drip down his face. His arms come up and grab at Twilight’s back and he gasps as he buries his face into the crook of Twilight’s neck.

“I’m sorry,” he croaks. Because he must have done something wrong again. “I’m sorry.”

He sobs and he feels Twilight tighten his hold. A hand goes up to his hair and he melts into the touch.

“It’s okay,” Twilight whispers. “You didn’t do anything wrong, you saved Wind.”

Wild let’s out another sob. Then why was he so angry the last time? “I don’t…  _understand_ ,” he cries.

Twilight gently breaks the embrace and looks Wild in the eyes. “I’m sorry. I should have… listened to you,” he says. “I was mad at you because… because you killed yourself, Wild. Instead of getting medical attention that we had, you just… and it scared me. That’s what I’m mad about. I’m sorry, Wild, I’m so sorry-”

Twilight is crying now and Wild breaks down even more. He is damaged, and he supposes he doesn’t understand a lot of things, but everyone is fine, alive, now. That’s what matters.

What matters is that Wild understands  _this_  now.

“I won’t do that again,” he promises, “I won’t. I promise.”

Twilight smiles tiredly. “Just… try to stay alive from now on, I don’t think my heart can take much more.”


End file.
